StreetLights Residential has purchased a two-building office complex at 3000 and 3100 Carlisle St., just a block away from Hillwood's recent purchase.

The two-story buildings will be replaced by a 16-story, 300-unit residential tower, according to Doug Chesnut with Streetlights Residential.

The property was sold by Rosdev Group of Canada, said Mike Turner, who brokered the sale. Newt Walker represented StreetLights Residential.

METROPLEX HOME FORECLOSURE FILINGS DROP
DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) â€“ Metroplex home foreclosure filings for September are down 19 percent from a year ago, marking the seventh month in a row that they have fallen year over year.
More than 4,700 homes are scheduled for sale at next monthâ€™s foreclosure auctions, according to Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service (FLS). So far this year, home foreclosure filings are down 12 percent from the same period last year.
Denton County had the biggest decline, with filings down 28 percent. Dallas County had a 19 percent drop.
Some 42,380 homes in the four-county area have been threatened with foreclosure so far this year, compared with more than 48,000 foreclosure filings by the same time last year.
A growing number of those homes are â€œupside-down,â€ meaning they are worth less than what is owed on the mortgage.
â€œUpside-down postings have surged 34 percent in the past year, with 28 percent of the homes posted so far this year involving homes in this no-win situation,â€ said FLS President George Roddy.
Latest surveys show that about 12 percent of Dallas-area residents with a home loan owe more than their property is worth.

LAND CONDEMNATION PROCESS CHANGES SEPT. 1

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) â€“ A new Texas statute changing the procedure for condemning land takes effect Sept. 1.

Many of the protections stripped from landowners in 2004 will be restored, said Judon Fambrough, an attorney with the Real Estate Center.

"For example, the initial offer to purchase must be in writing and sent by certified mail, return receipt requested," Fambrough said. "A final written offer must follow no sooner than 30 days later.

"The initial offer must include copies of all relevant appraisals produced or acquired by the condemnor during the prior ten years. Before making the final offer, the condemnor must obtain an appraisal, rendered by a certified appraiser, to assess the value of the property being acquired along with the damages to the remainder, if any. The final offer must equal or exceed the amount of this appraisal."

Fambrough warned that a condemnor failing to comply with the new rules could face harsh penalties.

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) â€“ U.S. home prices continued a downward trend in second quarter 2011, according to the Federal Housing Finance Administration's (FHFA) home price index (HPI) results, which were released Wednesday. Texas home prices fared better, but Real Estate Center Research Economist Dr. Jim Gaines said market stress is beginning to show.

"Texasâ€™ seasonally adjusted purchase-only HPI increased a slight 0.3 percent from first quarter 2011, the first quarterly positive change after three consecutive quarterly declines," Gaines said. "On an annual basis, the index declined 1.9 percent since second quarter 2010, the third straight quarter with a year-over-year fall.

"Since peaking in fourth quarter 2007, Texasâ€™ seasonally adjusted purchase-only index is down only 1.6 percent compared with the national 20 percent drop. This overall drop indicates the relative stability of prices in Texas while much of the rest of the country has been struggling with significant value declines."

Gaines said Texasâ€™ seasonally adjusted "expanded-data" index (EDI) indicated home values here declined 1.4 percent from the first quarter, continuing a trend of decline in five out of the previous six quarters. The stateâ€™s EDI fell 3.1 percent from second quarter 2010, the fourth consecutive year-over-year decline in the index.

"Still, as with the standard index measures, the overall change in Texas home values indicated by the EDI since the market peaked in 2007 is significantly better," Gaines said. "The total decline in the Texas EDI since fourth quarter 2007, when the index peaked, is only 5.6 percent, about one-fourth of the total U.S. rate of decline."